1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to a gap sealing means adapted to seal the gap between a mounting flange of a frame, a vehicle body or the like and a pane or window mounted to said mounting flange of said frame, vehicle body or the like by means of an adhesive. Further, the invention refers to a vehicle body comprising an aperture adapted to receive a pane or window, and a pane or window mounted in the aperture of the vehicle body, said aperture comprising a circumferential mounting flange stepped towards the interior of the vehicle body and having a first portion directed to the interior of the vehicle body as well as a second portion extending perpendicularly to said first portion towards the center of the aperture, the pane or window being adhesively fixed to the second portion of the mounting flange by means of an adhesive material bead.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, a vehicle pane or window is fixed in the frame of a vehicle body by means of a double U-profile frame member made of rubber or a similarly elastically resilient material. On the one hand, the edge of the pane or window is received in a first recess of the double U-profile facing the interior of the double U-profile frame member, and on the other hand, the second recess directed away from the double U-profile frame member engages the edges of a body frame, of a flange or the like of the vehicle body to thereby fix the pane or window in its desired position.
More and more, to so-called direct mounting of vehicle panes or windows is used in which an edge portion of the pane or window is glued to the edges of a body frame, of a flange or the like e.g. of a vehicle body by means of a suitable adhesive material. Thereby, a bead of a adhesive and sealing substance which permanently remains elastic is applied along the edge of the pane or window to be mounted. Thereafter, the thus prepared pane or window is put into the frame or onto the mounting flange and pressed thereagainst.
A problem arising in performing this method is that the pane or window exhibits certain size tolerances with the consequence that the aperture in the vehicle body must be designed somewhat greater than the nominal or standard dimensions of the pane or window to be mounted therein in order to take into account that possibly a pane or window will have to be inserted which is wider than a standard or nominally sized pane or window. Thereby, a gap occurs between the edge of the pane or window and the vehicle body having more or less width. This gap not only is aesthetically a nuisance, but it enables dirt and moisture to penetrate between the edge of the pane or window and the vehicle body and to settle there and it creates noise due to the head wind which can be heard in the interior of the vehicle.
According to the prior art, different methods have been disclosed to try to avoid this disadvantage.
The German published Patent Application No. 20 38 016 discloses a profiled edge member which has to be pushed over the edge of the pane or window and which comprises a channel portion enclosing an edge portion of the pane or window. A front strip portion extends from the front wall of the channel portion which covers the front wall and which is larger than the depth dimension of the front wall such that its free edge protrudes in such an amount to rest against the facing portion of the vehicle body when the pane-profile member-structure is inserted into the aperture of the vehicle body whereby the frontal strip portion covers the gap between the edge of the pane or window and the mounting flange of the vehicle body. Such a profile member is very expensive and requires a cumbersome mounting process to fit over the edge of the pane or window; thus, it is not suitable for an automated preparation of the panes or windows which is usual in these days.
Another solution is disclosed in the published European Patent Application No. 0 073 350. According to this publication, a profiled frame is provided which is mounted on the edge of the pane or window to be fixed to the vehicle body. The profiled frame has, seen in cross section, a portion located beyond the periphery of the pane or window and being plastically deformable under the influence of a mechanical force. With this design, an adaptable pane-frame-structure should be provided which exactly fits into the aperture of the vehicle body. The disadvantage of this solution is besides the even higher price of the profiled frame that an additional operation step is required, namely the plastic deformation of the profiled frame before the pane or window can be inserted into the vehicle body. Furthermore, in the case of repair, the replacement of such a pane or window is very expensive.
Similar solutions are disclosed in the published European Patent Application No. 0 128 837, the published British Patent Application No. 2 049 010 and the U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,755. In any case, a profiled member is used to cover the gap between the edge of the pane or window and the vehicle body, said profiled member having a covering portion for spanning the gap and a anchoring portion which is inserted or pushed into the adhesive bead or connected thereto otherwise. These designs are fairly expensive as well, protrude too far over the surface of the pane or window in the case of the above mentioned British and U.S. documents and require a cumbersome mounting process in exactly the proper moment when the adhesive and sealing substance still is plastic, but shortly before curing. Also with these solutions, in the case of repair, the replacement of such a pane or window is very expensive.